Missouri Has Towns Named Licking and Butts (Really)

If you've ever thought your hometown had an unfortunate name, consider yourself lucky you're not from Licking or Butts, Missouri. These are not typos, pranks, or the result of a town council losing a bet—they're real places where real people live, work, and presumably try to explain their address without giggling.

Licking is actually the more developed of the two. It's a legitimate city in Texas County with over 3,000 residents, making it the most populous city in the county. It sits at the intersection of U.S. Route 63 and Missouri Route 32, about 138 miles southwest of St. Louis.

How Do You Even Name a Town 'Licking'?

Before you let your mind wander, the name has a perfectly innocent explanation. The city was named after a mineral lick (also called a salt lick) near the original town site—places where animals would gather to lick minerals from the ground. An early variant name was actually "Buffalo Lick," which sounds slightly more dignified but didn't stick.

The town has survived quite a bit since its founding. In 1880, a tornado nearly wiped Licking off the map, destroying most homes. By 1889, it had bounced back and was thriving again. The population got a major boost in the 2000s when the South Central Correctional Center opened in 2000 (doubling the population), and when a small Amish community relocated from Indiana starting in 2009.

And Then There's Butts

Butts is much smaller—an unincorporated community in Crawford County. You won't find it bustling with activity, but it's real enough to appear on maps and databases. It's located on the north side of Henpeck Hollow (because of course there's a place called Henpeck Hollow nearby), about a half-mile east of Courtois Creek.

Getting to Butts requires taking a county road off Missouri Route 8, roughly five miles east of a place called Elayer. It's about 68 miles from St. Louis, so if you're planning a road trip for the photo op at the town sign, it's doable.

Unlike Licking, the origins of the name "Butts" are less clear from available records. It could be a family surname—a common practice in naming small communities after early settlers or prominent families.

Missouri's Commitment to Memorable Names

Licking and Butts aren't alone in Missouri's collection of eyebrow-raising place names. The state also features towns like:

• Tightwad (named after a storekeeper who was notoriously cheap)
• Peculiar (reportedly named because it was "peculiar" they could even get a post office)
• Humansville (named after a human, presumably)
• Knob Lick (combining geological and mineral features into maximum awkwardness)

So yes, somewhere in Missouri, someone can legitimately say they're driving from Licking to Butts, and they're not describing a questionable Saturday night—they're just talking about a perfectly normal road trip through the Ozarks.